The Duke and The Musician
by Belletiger BT
Summary: This story is EarlxFem 14th What happened before Lilith going rampage and killing the other Noah except for Millennium Earl and Road? This is their story before Ladyhawke.
1. Chapter 1

The Duke and The Musician  
Chapter 1: How they met.

Summarily- a pre-sequel of my story LadyHawke. This story is EarlxFem 14th What happened before Lilith going rampage and killing the other Noah except for Millennium Earl and Road? This is their story before Ladyhawke.

A/n: since the events happened before the original series, I am going to use the noah's name since removed their human names before the beginning of the series.

XXX

"Li…Lilith?"

Millennium Earl noticed that Lilith had lost her conscious; she was now in a deep sleep. The first Noah used a little bit of his last strength to embrace his beloved 14th. Imagines of the happy times with her came to his mind before that fateful day where they stared to fight each other.

"If…. I had known …about your pregnancy… things ….would be….. different…"Earl whispered as his eyes were closing. "I will….. see you ….in my dreams….. my beloved….. Neah Lilith Walker….."

With that, Lilith and the Millennium Earl sleep in a field of flowers, in the arms of each other. In their deep sleep, they started to dream about their past: of the time they met, of when they fell in love and also that fateful day when they tried to kill each other.

*FORTY YEARS AGO.*

The Millennium Earl was in his special room and kept swinging his chair as he continued to stroke Lustful's fur. Today was a little slow, there were not many calls from the brokers around the world and he feels a little bored.

"Millie!" Road cried out as she hugged the huge man from behind him.

Lustful narrowed her cats eyes at the Noah child. Why can't she greet him in a more mature way and not so childish? Road giggled as she looked at the patriarch.

"Hey Millie, there's a new circus in town." Road said, smiling. "Wanna go with me?"

"A circus hun? What about the others?"

"Joyd and the others are busy with the sub-human stuff. There's no phone calls from the brokers today and I bet you're bored. Please, Millie, a day off will not kill you and I have no one to take me there."

Lustful sweetdropped as she saw Road making puppies eyes with her big child yellow eyes. Of course , you have to do more than puppies eyes to convince the duke to do something that he might not want to do. Millennium Earl chucked.

"Sure. When will we go?"

Lustful dropped her head as a bigger sweetdrop was formed. How can Road convince their patriarch only with puppies eyes?

XXX

When they arrived at the local town, Millennium Earl and Road were in their white form. Road whined when she saw the size of the line for the tickets. Earl just chuckled as he petted Road's head.

"Don't worry Road –chan, I will get the tickets without needing to be in the line. Being a noble has its advantages."

"Alright, I will stay here and wait for you. But don't take long and don't get yourself lost." Road said to him.

Millennium Earl sweetdropped. Thought he was more 7000 years old, the Earl has a very bad sense of direction and he gets himself lost easily, he even got himself lost in the Ark a few times. That's why he has his golem Lero to keep him in the right direction. He was looking for the other circus staff to see if he can get tickets from them when he suddenly he heard a voice.

"LILITH!"

Suddenly something fall into him and his face meets the dirty ground. He groaned , why did this type of stuff always happen to him? Then he heard a female voice,

"I am so sorry!" she apologized, with an embarrassed tone. "Are you alright, sir?"

When he lifted his face, he saw the most beautiful thing he ever seen. She had a long dark hair and beautiful silver eyes. She offers her hand to help him to get up from the ground.

"Yes, I am." Earl said , removing the little bit of the dirt from his cloths. Then, he looked at the girl with a big smile. "For a moment I thought an angel had fallen on me."

The girl's blush was even redder as she narrowed her eyes, folding her arms.

"If you're trying to charm me, you should know you failed."

"Really? I thought it worked." He grinned "My name is Adam Millennium, can I know the name of the angel who fall on me?"

"Stop saying that. You're making me sound like a fallen angel. Anyway, my name is Neah Lilith Walker, but you can call me Lilith. And this is Mana Walker, my brother."

Then Adam took Lilith's left hand and he kissed softly, as Lilith blushed even more.

"Nice to meet you, Lady Walker"

The girl named Lilith blushed even more. It was the first time someone had called her a lady. The young man, Mana was just staring at the scene before him. He was surprised to see his sister being this quiet. But the moment was kinda ruined when a clown was passing by and saw everything.

"Hey dude, you shouldn't call Lilith a lady. I mean, she's not a lady anyway."

The next minute the clown found himself inside of the cage of the lions. All the circus staff sweetdropped as the beast tamer tried to calm down her precious lions to not eat something they shouldn't while Mana tried to rescue his poor comrade. Lilith just ignored the screams as she gave the duke some tickets before going back to her tent. Millennium Earl who saw everything couldn't help it, he grinned.

"I guess I found someone really interesting." Millennium Earl grinned as he left to find Road. Of course, they still could hear the screams of the poor clown.

To be Continue.

So what do you think? Should I continue this story? I wanna hear your comments about this story and about Earl and Fem!Neah before the events of LadyHawke? Please, review.


	2. Chapter 2

The duke and The musician  
By Belletiger bt  
Chapter 2.

Xxx

Joyd had seen many things in his life that had scared him, before and after he had awaken as the 3rd Noah, but nothing could compare to the scene he was seeing before him.

"She loves me, she loves me not." Earl said as he removed another petal of a flower.

Yes, the Millennium Earl, the oldest and the patriarch of the Noah clan was doing the flower thing that girls usually do to see if the guy they adore loves them or not. Earl doing this girly stuff was really terrifying him.

"She loves me!" Earl cried out in joy as he removed the last petal of the rose. "I knew it! Lilith! You're my destiny!"

Joyd's sweetdrop got bigger. What was happening to the patriarch lately? He was acting like a fool who fall in love for the first time.

"Eer… Earl…..?"

"Ah, Joyd-pon! The man I was waiting for." Earl said in a joyful voice. "I need ask you a favor. Could you deliver this bouquet to Ms. Neah Lilith Walker for me?" asked Earl as he took a big bouquet of roses and lilies out of nowhere.

Joyd groaned as he dropped his head. He was the Noah of Pleasure, not a deliver boy!

XXX

The young Noah of Pleasure muttered darkly as he cared the bouquet to the circus. Really, who was this woman that made Millennium Earl act weirder than the normal? He sighed in frustration. He will just drop the bouquet to this Neah Lilith Walker and get out of there. He didn't like circus', especially clowns.

"May I help you?" A voice asked behind him

When Joyd turned around, he saw a young woman around her late twenties. She had pale skin but fiery red hair and ember eyes. From the outfit she was wearing, Joyd could tell she was a gypsy.

"Well, can you tell me where can I find this Neah Lilith Walker? This bouquet is to her."

"She should be in the main tent, practicing her acrobatics."

"I see. Thank you for your help." Joyd said as he turned around and stared to walk to the main tent.

"You're welcome, Joyd."

Joyd's eyes widen in pure shock and surprise when he heard that woman say his Noah name. He quickly turned around and he saw the woman was not there anymore. How is that possible? And how did that woman know his Noah name if he didn't even told her his human name? Before he could think any further, he started to hear screams from the main tent.

"COME BACK HERE, YOU PERVERT!"

"NO LILITH! I TOLD YOU I WAS SORRY!

Joyd sweetdropped. What was happening in the main tent?

XXX

Mana was holding his sister back from killing a follow acrobat. After a little error of miss calculatoin, both Lilith and the male acrobat had fallen in the save net, but accidentally the male acrobat touched Lilith's breast when they fallen together.

"Mana, let me go! I wanna kill him!" shouted Lilith as she was fight to free herself from her brother.

"Lilith! Calm down! Behave yourself!" shouted Mana trying to cool off his sister's temper.

"Li-Lilith! Please, I already apologized! "the male acrobat said, he was already on his knees , begging her to not kill him or cutting some important parts of his body. "If I was suicidal, I would choose a painless death and not touch you!"

Then, Lilith stopped as she thought for a moment. What he said had some sense. Feeling that his sister finally cooled down , Mana let her go as he sighted in relief. Then, they heard someone cleaning his or her throat .

"Excused me, Am I interrupting something?"

The circus members saw Joyd at the entrance of the performers tent, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"…Nothing really. May we help you?" Mana asked to the man.

"Well, my name is Lukas," said Joyd using his human name, "Where can I find Ms. Neah Lilith Walker?'

"That would be me." Lilith said as she walked towards him.

The Noah of Pleasure smiled as he gave the young woman the bouquet. Lilith blinked with the flowers in her arms as Joyd told her that Adam Millennium had send them to her. Lilith just smiled at him. Mana and the male acrobat gulped ; Lilith smiling was never a good sign.

"So, it was that noble I fall onto the other day, right?"

"Yep, that would be the one."

Then, Lilith puts her fingers in the lips as she whistled. Joyd quickly put his fingers in his ears because the loud noise hurt his ears. Then, they heard another noise as an elephant had entered in the tent. Lilith went to the elephant.

"Here Jumbo. You can have it." Lilith said as she gave the bouquet to the huge animal who happily accepted the 'food'.

Joyd's jaw dropped as he saw the elephant eating the bouquet as Lilith grabbed the collar of his shirt and she looked at him with a murderous look in her eyes. Joyd gulped frightened.

"Tell your nobleman I am not a woman who can be easily bought. He can send flowers, chocolate, jewels and even a kingdom; I will not give a fuck about any of it."

Joyd paled as he ran off. All he could think was that woman was the devil reincarnated. Mana couldn't help but sigh in disappointment, as he nods his head in shame.

"Sis, don't you think you went to far with him?"

"Nothing is fair with noblemen, you know that Mana."

XXX

At the ark, Joyd told the Earl what happened at the circus. What was his reaction? He was sucking in the corner of the room, hugging his knees with a gloom aura around him.

"….She gave the bouquet to an elephant…"

Joyd sweetdrop. He sighted annoyed as he looked at his depressed master. Really, he shouldn't act like this for a simple sub-human girl that works at a circus.

"Earl, I think you should forget the circus girl." Joyd said to him. " I mean, finding the Heart of Innocence is easier than you winning that woman's heart."

Then, Millennium Earl got up as a he looked at the 3rd Child with determination in his eyes. Joyd looked worried. What was the Duke planning?

"Joyd, I will get her heart!"

Joyd's sweetdrop got bigger.

"Duke…. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"I did, Joyd-pon. And I will stop making akuma for one year so I can focus on winning her heart."

"What?"

"And you Joyd-pon, you and Wisely will help me in getting her heart!

"WHAT?"

That's when the long one year mission of getting Lilith's heart stared. Giving a lot of headache to poor Joyd…

To be Continued.

Heheh, I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry for taking so long. Writers block really sucks. About Joyd being named Lukas; I doubt the Noah had the same human name from the previous generation. They keep their Noah name but never the human name. Which is why I will focus on the Noah name to not create any confusion. Please, do not forget to review and suggestions are welcome. See you in the next chapter.

I wanna thank Kithren for helping in this chapter. For editing and also for the great ideas she  
gave me ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

The Duke and the musician  
Chapter 3 

Xxx

Wisely looked at Joyd with a look that clearly said he didn't want to believe what he had just heard. His eyes begging his follow Noah to tell him he was joking and that this was just one of the Earl's pranks.

"Please Joyd, tell me you're joking." Wisely begged.

"I am afraid not, Wisely. That's Duke's orders."

"But our Duke, our Earl is really in love with a simple circus girl?"

Instead of verbally answering, Joyd just grabbed Wisely by his collar as he took him to the Earl's room. Wisely's eyes widen in pure shock when he saw the Earl's room filled with piles of books. Romance books to be exact. The patriarch of the Noah Clan had just finished reading one of the many books.

"Oh, the Cinderella story really gave me some romantic ideas. Now which one I should read next? Ahá! I know! Romeo and Juliet!"

Wisely's jaw dropped when he saw their Earl pick up and start reading Shakespeare's famous romance. This can't be happening! Their Earl was acting like an idiot who just fallen in love for the first time!

"Does that answer your question?" Joyd asked to Wisely.

Wisely was still in shock and Joyd couldn't really blame him for that. Wisely snapped out of his shock and asked what kind of woman had gotten their Earl's interest. Joyd shivered as he remember that woman. All Joyd could say to his fellow Noah was that the woman was a she-devil.

"Great….." Wisely covered his face with his palm. He didn't believe this. "When I finally returned from my one week mission, I find this crap happening."

"Anyway, I will take you to the circus. While we're there, I want you read that woman's mind. We have to find out what kind of stuff she likes. The only way to make the Earl to be his old self again is if that she-devil falls in love with him."

XXX

When they arrived at the grounds where the circus was, they had an unpleased surprised: the place was completely empty. No tents, No animals and no people. The place was completely silent, they only could hear the wind blowing across the empty field.

"Where's everyone?" Wisely asked. Joyd was completely silent. There was no sign of that she-devil. Then, a random man who was just passing by saw Joyd and Wisely there looking dumbstruck.

"Are you looking for the circus troop? They left last night." The man said before walking away.

Wisely sweetdropped as he saw Joyd beating his head against a near by tree. Wisely tried to cool off his Noah brother by saying they will find the circus troop soon and that he shouldn't do anything too drastic. Joyd looked into the eyes of the Noah of Wisdom for a long moment.

"And how will we find them?" He asked.

"I dunno yet but…." Joyd started to beat his head against the tree once more. "Stop that, Joyd!"

"You should listen to you friend, Joy-joy."

Then, both the man turned around and saw a woman with fiery red hair, wearing a formal dress, and holding an umbrella. Joyd recognized the woman immediately.

"You're that gypsy!" Joyd yelled as he pointed his finger at the woman.

"You know, its rude to point fingers at people." the red haired woman smiled at Joyd.

Wisely blinked confused. Did Joyd knew this woman? And why did he called her a gypsy? She didn't look like a gypsy to him.

XXX

At a local bar Joyd was drinking some beer as Wisely just drank some tea ( he has a low tolerance to alcohol) while the red haired woman was drinking a glass of wine. Joyd glared at the woman.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Joyd asked to the woman.

"My name is Thalia Marian. I know your name because my board had told me."

Joyd quirked an eyebrow at her response.

"Board?"

"My Ouija board."

Wisely couldn't help but groan. Only some people can use the power of a Ouija board and they can know everything trough the board. Not even their Earl could use the power of the board, even though he has great knowledge on magic and sorcery. But that strange woman could use it for some unknown reason.

"Don't worry, the board only told me about your names and also about the person falling in love with my friend, Lilith."

Wisely stared at the woman. They finally found someone who knew that Lilith person that the Earl likes so much. He used some of his powers to hear her thoughts. But when he did, his eyes widened as he fall from his chair, a lot of blood coming out from his nose.

"Wisely!" Joyd exclaimed, surprised from Wisely's nosebleed.

"Did I mentioned that if you try to read my mind, you will just see something you shouldn't?" Thalia said calmly as she drank a little bit of her wine.

Joyd was surprise. How did this woman know of Wisely's mind reading abilities? The red haired woman was more then meets the eye. She only smirked at the Noah.

"Well, I can tell you where Lilith is, but there's a price for the information."

"….what kind of price?" Joyd didn't like the way the red haired woman was smiling at him. He knew he would regret asking for the price of the information that they needed.

XXX

Joyd wanted to cry. Not only him, but so did Wisely. They looked angst as they continued to stare at their empty wallets while Thalia was nuzzling the bottle of Romanee Conti that the two had just bought for her.

"Yeah baby, you and I will have a lot of fun together." Said Thalia, happily , as she was still rubbing her face against the expensive wine bottle.

"Now that you got want you wanted, can you tell us where that she-devil is?" Joyd asked. He hoped that the woman would answer them now, the two Noah still looking woefully at their poor empty wallets.

"Oh yeah, right, Lilith told me where they were going….." she thought for a minute before she remembered. "Oh yeah, I remember. She told me the circus troop were going to Aquilla, somewhere in France. She said the troop wanted to be around some kind of local festival there."

Thalia blinked confused as she noticed that Joyd and Wisely were not there anymore. She sighted in disappoint. "Waah… they already left… Too bad, I wanted to ask Wisely if he wanted try what he saw in my mind. Well, at least that means there will be more wine for me."

Thalia giggled happily as she started to walk off, the woman planning to have some good times with her precious Romanee Conti.

XXX

Somewhere in France, Lilith coughed several times. The woman holding her handkerchief to her month. When she finally stopped coughing, she noticed there was blood staining the handkerchief. Lilith quickly threw the handkerchief into the fire camp. She did not want Mana to know she was sick.

To be continued.

Next chapter: almost a Cinderella story between Lilith and Earl.


	4. Chapter 4

The duke and the Misician

Chapter 4

Xxx

Mana and his two clown colleges were watching Lilith play a sad melody on the piano, the three clowns standing in the door way of the tent. Needless to say they are a little bit worried because Lilith wasn't acting all wild lately.

"Say Mana, what's up with your sister lately?" Asked one of the clowns.

"I heard from the ringmaster that she asked to only feed the animals and play the piano." Said the other. Mana didn't say anything. He had been wondering himself what happened to his sister.

He knew she used adrenaline to not think very much about their past, before they joined to the circus, but lately Lilith seemed to be getting tired easily and not having much energy to keep up with her normal threats towards their male colleges from the circus.

Lilith still kept playing the piano, hoping to distract her thoughts. She still can't believe she had an illness, but the doctor in town had confirmed that she had tuberculosis. She still didn't know how she was going to tell the news to Mana, the news that she has the illness that had killed some of their colleges of the circus and their mother.

"You know, emo music doesn't suit you, my dear." Said Earl , in his human form and suddenly showing up beside her.

Lilith's finger stumbled on the black keys. The perfect melody ruined as the circus girl started with the man's sudden presence. "Arght! Where did you come form?"

The same question was in the thoughts of Mana and his two colleges as they sweetdrop.

They didn't noticed Earl's presence a second ago.

"From the door." Earl smiled to her.

The clowns' sweetdrops got bigger from his response as they could see a dark aura growing around Lilith.

"Is he insane?" asked one of the clowns.

"Sometimes we wonder the same thing." The clowns turned to their right and they saw Joy, Wisely and Road standing there. The clowns were suddenly wondering how they got there and how they didn't feel their presence.

"*Aham* , let me introduce myself. I am Adam Millennium." Earl said as he removed his top hat. "I couldn't introduce myself appropriately the other day because of that stupid clown saying that rude stuff about you, Lady Walker." Then he putted his hat back on his head as he smiled to the girl.

"Just call me Lilith. And what do you want?" She asked, folding her arms as she glared at the duke. "I don't think you came all this way here only so you could introduce yourself appropriately to me."

Then, Earl took from his tuxedo two tickets. He smiled to Lilith as he showed the tickets to her. "I want to take you to the Aquila's festival as my date,"

Suddenly a cold breeze passed through the tent. Mana and the clowns were shivering as they expected Lilith would explode any moment, since they knew how her personality was. The Noah were also quiet. Joyd was hopping she will accept the Duke's request for a date, for all their sakes.

"I refused." She simply said, in a very cold voice with her arms still folded over her chest.

Earl sighed, already expecting this answer, but he knew another way to convince his beloved girl to going out on a date with him.

"Well, I see that you leave me with no choice."

Suddenly the lights turned off and everything was dark. Millennium Earl was now in a light spot , holding a rose in his hand.

"O brawling love, O loving hate,

O any thing of nothing first create!

O heavy lightness, serious vanity,

Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms,

Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health,

Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!"

As Earl was saying the poem, he was making some dramatic poses, this causing everyone present in the tent to be a little freaked out. Even Joyd, Wisely and Road are a little embarrassed with Earl's actions. What was Earl doing? Then, Earl kneeled as he held Lilith's hand, another light spot fall on her. Lilith's eyes were wide in embarrassment as she looked at Earl a little scared. And she was even more terrified as he made puppy eyes to her.

"Dear Lilith, It would be an honor for me take you to Aquila's festival as my date. That would make me a very happy man."

"Ok! ok! Just stop that!" Lilith snapped as she quirkily removed her hand from Earl's. "I will go to the festival with you! Just stop this nonsense! It's creeping me out!"

The lights returned to normal at the girls words. Earl turned to where Wisely, Road and Joyd where, showing a sigh of victory to them. The Noah, Mana and the clowns sweetdropped.

"Ok, how did he do the lights trick?" Mana asked, wondering what just happened.

"Believe me, there's some things you rather not know. Especially about him." Joyd said honestly and totally embarrassed. There's some stuff he would rather to not know when it involves the Millennium Earl's antics. That was for the sake of his sanity.

Earl called Road to bring the pumpkin to him. Road gently placed the pumpkin on the ground as Lilith stared at the fruit confused and wondering what Earl was planning to do with the it. Earl just smiled as he took his staff out of nowhere and he slammed on the ground. Suddenly the pumpkin turned into a beautiful coach. Except for the Noah, everyone present were totally shocked, their jaws dropping.

"What do you think dear?" Earl asked.

Lilith was still speechless, only staring at the beautiful coach. Earl chucked as he asked Wisely to bring the mice. Wisely nodded as he took the cage but to his (unpleasant) surprised, the mice were gone.

"What the hell?"

XXX

At the same time, a man was humming happily as he gave living mice to his precious snakes.

"There there, Naga, Medusa and Kisa hope you like the mice I found." The man whispered happily to his snakes.

XXX

Wisely sweetdropped. Why did this things always happen to him? Earl just stared at Wisely with a blank look on his face as he sighted. He wanted to follow the steps in the Cinderella story, but he guessed he hhave to do things differently

.

"Ah, crap, without the mice, I can't have the horses to pull the coach. Now what I am going to do?" Earl asked to himself as he scratched his head. Then he looked at Mana and the two clowns. The trio didn't like the way the weirdo was looking at them. "I guess you will do."

Earl slammed the staff against the ground and Mana and the other two clowns became horses. Needless to say Lilith's jaw dropped as she saw her precious brother becoming a horse.

"I think this is better than what I had planned."

Bam!

Lilith hit Earl with her fist before she grabs his collar and shakes him furiously like he was a rag doll. There was a dark aura around Lilith and Earl could swear her eyes were glowing red.

"RETURN MY BROTHER TO NORMAL!" Lilith only stopped shaking him because Wisely and Joyd had grabbed each of her arms, but she still was trashing, the girl still wanting to beat their duke senseless. "LET ME GO! OR I WILL CASTRATE BOTH OF YOU!"

Joyd and Wisely paled but they still didn't let her go. It was their mission to protect Earl from everything. That includes a raging woman who wants rip off their manhood.

"C-calm down, Lilith." Earl said, as he tried to calm the girl down "Don't worry, they will return to normal after midnight."

Lilith glared at him, still not believing in his words. Earl was quick to add that if they didn't return to normal, he would let her castrate him. Needless to say Wisely, Joyd and Road were shocked. After she finally had cooled off, she decided to believe in his words.

Joyd and Wisely sighed in relief as they saw the she-devil had finally cooled off.

"Now, for the last detail!"

He slammed his staff once more to the ground and Lilith found herself wearing a beautiful dress. Lilith was speechless as Mana and the other clown's jaws dropped (even though they were horses). They didn't expect that Lilith would look beautiful in a dress.

"You look beautiful my dear." Earl said as he gently kissed her hand. "Now for the coachman and footman…"

This time he snapped his fingers as Wisely and Joyd's outfits changed. They looked at themselves with the new outfits, looking a little confused.

"Earl, What is this?" Asked Joyd, confused with the outfit,

"Well Joyd-Pon, you will be coachman while Wisely will be the footman." Earl said, grinning.

"What?" Wisely cried out "What about Road?"

This time, Road was the one grinning.

"I will be the sweet child that will company them to the festival." Road said as she made a sign of victory.

Joy and Wisely sighed. They should have expected this. Road was the only member of the family that Earl loves to spoil. After all, she was the first member, after many centuries, that had awakened her Noah genes when she was a child.

"Anyway, let's go the festival before it gets too late" Earl said before he cheered out, "Who wants to play in the game stands?"

"Me!" Road cheered.

Lilith could only nod her head in shame.

"I think you need professional help." she muttered darkly and deep in their hearts, Wisely and Joyd agreed with the she-devil.

To be continued

Next time, their time in the festival. I hope you like this chapter, as much as I did, :)

Ah, I updated a new story : "Sinner". Its a FMA and DGm crossover, if you want, you can take a look in the new story. I want to know your opinion. ( Sinner will be my first dark story). Suggestions are always welcome ^^

Please, do not forget to leave you review. See ya all in the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

The Duke and the Musican

Chapter 5

xxx

It was a really nice festival in Earl's opinion. The music was good, the food was fantastic, and everybody seemed to be having fun. But there was only one problem: Lilith was still giving him a killing aura since he transformed her brother into a horse, along with the other two clowns that happened to be present at the time. Anyone that the group walked past were getting chills as they went through the crowd.

"L-Lilith? How about you smile and having fun at the festival?" Earl asked. He gulped as he saw Lilith glaring at him.

"Well… I would smile and be having fun if you haven't had transformed my brother into a horse." Lilith said darkly to Earl.

Then, Lilith started to cough. Earl gently patting Lilith's back as she finally stopped.

"Need something to drink?" Earl asked.

"Y-Yeah, some water would be good." Lilith said as she sat on a close by bench. Earl went to a close by food stand to buy some water for Lilith to drink.

Lilith sighed as she looked sadly at the starry sky. At least she hadn't coughed up any blood this time, it was bad enough having to hide this from her brother, she didn't want to worrying him, since there was nothing he could do. The only thing she should focus on was to be happy and keep walking until the end.

Then, Earl returned.

"Here is your water."

"Thanks"

Earl sat beside her, very nervous. He had no idea what subject to talk to her about, since was the first time he had been on a real date. He had forgotten all the tips that Desires had given him since he's one of the few Noah who is married to a human. Then, Lilith's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I think their love was true."

Earl blinked confused as he saw what Lilith was staring at; in the center of the square was a huge statue with a woman, a man, a bird and a wolf. The statue was Lady Isabeau and Sir Navarre- the cursed lovers and Aquila Festival's main theme. Lilith mentioned she always loved her mother telling her and Mana the story of Lady Hawke- a woman who was cursed along with her lover by an evil and jealous bishop. Thought they had stayed cursed for two years, the lovers never had lost hope, especially the woman. Earl's stared at Lilith's smile. It was serene and soft. Very different from her she-devil personality. Then, he had a thought: the story of the cursed lovers sounded familiar before he remembered the reason why.

"Oh yeah, I remember! The bishop was a broker back then and I helped him with the curse."

"Excused me?" Lilith asked, as she looked confused at Earl.

Earl blushed embarrassed as he sweetdropped. He didn't mean to speak this loud. How will he get out of this? To his luck, Road choose to return to them, the young looking girl coming to his rescue.

"Hey Millie! Lilith! I found the game stands! Let's play some games!"

Earl looked at his pocket watch. They still had some time before the play starts. He and Lilith followed the Child of Dreams to the game stands. Earl found himself wondering how Joyd and Wisely were doing since they stayed behind to look after the coach and the horses.

XXX

Joyd yawed in boredom as he and Wisely were playing poker. While Road, Earl and that she-devil were in the festival, he and Wisely had to stay with the coach and keep their eyes on the horses. After all, if something happens to the horses, they would face the wrath of that she-devil.

" Tell me Wisely, what did you see in that red head's mind?" Joy asked to Wisely, still curious about Wisely's nosebleed when he tried to read the red haired gypsy's mind.

Wisely's face was now a deep red blush. He looked very embarrassed as he remembers the images he seen within that crazy red haired woman mind.

"I prefer to not talk about it," Wisely muttered.

Joyd only quirking an eyebrow. Whatever Wisely had seen, he was pretty sure it was something pervert. Suddenly, Wisely felt someone hugging him from behind. Wisely blushed as he felt something very soft behind of his head.

"Well Joy-Joy, if you want I can tell you what Will saw." It was Thalia, now wearing a red and gold gypsy outfit.

"Noo! Its you!" Wisely whined as Thalia hugged him closer to her bust. She was the last person he wanted to see at moment.

Joyd couldn't help, but sweetdrop at Wisely's situation.

"How did you get here?" Joyd asked. "Weren't you at London?"

"Well, I have my ways of getting here." Thalia said, smiling.

*Flashback.*

"So, you're Thalia?"

"Yep, I am. I heard you're going to Aquila, right?" She asked. "Can you take me there?"

"Why should I do that?"

Then, Thalia gave the figure a bag filled with all handmade candies. The figured took a candy from the bag and ate it. Her eyes shined when she tasted the delicious sweet taste of the candy.

"Ok! I can take you there!"

"It was nice to make a deal with you, Road."

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Joyd groan as he face palmed. He was not surprised with this. You can make any kind of deal with Road as long you gave her very tasteful sweets as payment. And thanks to that, the crazy gypsy was there to bother them. 

"What do you want?" Joyd asked, narrowing his eyes to the gypsy. "Thanks to you, we don't have any money after you made us buy that expensive wine."

"Oh no, Joy-Joy. I just came here to get some money at the festival and also" then, she looks at Wisely in a very seductive way. "Making Will a man."

Wisely's eyes widen in pure shock.

"W-w-what?" he gasped.

"And I even reserved the best room in the Aquila's hotel." Suddenly, Wisely found himself tied up as Thalia started dragging him to the festival. ". Ah Joy-Joy, after the festival, I want to discuss with you the dreams you've been having lately. Now lets go before it gets late."

"NOO!" Wisely cried out, being dragged by Thalia.

Joyd sweetdropped at Wisely's situation. He didn't know if he should feel sorry for Wisely losing his virginity to a crazy woman or feeling jealous, since he admits Thalia was a beautiful and seductive woman, even if she had a crazy personality. Then, Joyd blinked confused as he finally noticed something.

"How did she know about my dreams?"

XXX

Back to the festival, Road was happy with the gifts she got from the game stands. She looked at Lilith very happily.

"Thank you so much, Lilith!" Road said happily. "You're now my new favorite big sister!"

"You're welcome Road, I am glad to make you happy. Good thing I have good arm. If you had been counting on Adam here, you would have not gotten any of these toys."

Earl blushed embarrassed as he tried to hide his face with his hat. From all the game stands, he had a very terrible arm. Though he had 7000 years, he never needed to use weapons or fire guns, because he had his sword. Since he could not use dark mater at the festival, he found out he was very terrible arming in the normal way. Lilith, with her circus abilities, had won at all the game stands, making Road very happy.

"I didn't know you're so good at arming." Earl commented. "You didn't miss any target."

"That's because I was a knife thrower before being an acrobat." Lilith said, smiling to them.

For some reason, Earl felt chills run up his spine as Road looked at her with a shine in her eyes. Road asked if she could teach her how to throw knifes, Lilith nodded and said she might teach her when Road became a little older. They went to the theater house, where they saw the play "Ladyhawke", which was the story of the cursed lovers. To Lilith's opinion the play was wonderful and they made the story come alive.

After the play, Earl took Lilith back to the circus. Lilith hated to admit it, but the date wasn't so bad after all. When they got to the circus, it was only 5 minutes before midnight. Earl helped Lilith to get down from the coach. Road was sleeping on Joyd's back as Earl looked Lilith in the eyes.

"I hoped you liked how the night turned out." He said.

"Well, I admit it wasn't that bad. Not bad for a noble."

Earl sighed. He wondered what made Lilith so against nobles. But he would find out when Lilith opens her heart to him. At least she liked the date, which was a big step.

Then, he smiled goofily.

"I am glad you liked the date," Earl said, smiling. "Now, how about a good night kiss?"

Then, Lilith took a knife out of nowhere, smiling sweetly at Earl.

"How about you get out of here before I castrate you?"

Earl sweetdropped as he gulped. He took Joyd and Road and they left the circus. But before he left, he said he was eager to go out on another date with her. Lilith sighed, finally that crazy man was gone as she could hear the bells at the near by church start to ring. That means it was already mid-night. She noticed her dress was gone, now wearing the outfit she had on before, the coach also returning to be a simple pumpkin. When she turned a round to see if her brother and the clowns returned to normal, she had an unpleasant surprise.

"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

Yep, her brother and the clowns were completely naked.

XXX

At the Ark, Joy dplaced Road on her bed carefully, trying not to wake her up. Earl looked at Joyd with a curious look in his eyes.

"Hey Joyd-pon, where's Wisely-kun?"

Joyd sweetdropped. How should he go about telling Earl about Wisely's whereabouts?

"Er….. he's having his own fun time, duke."

xxx

At Aquila's hotel, Wisely was tied in the bed, only wearing his underwear. He was nervous….. no, he was more like terrified.

"Ca-Can't we talk about this, Miss Marian?"

Thalia was looking at him just like how a predator would do with its prey. She was purring like a cat, making Wisely even more scared.

"Don't worry, Will. I will be gentle, as long I am the dominant one on the relationship." Thalia said as she took a horse whip and licked it. "And tonight I will make you a man."

That night, all Aquila's inhabitants could hear Poor Wisely's cries.

To be continue it.

Lol, Poor Wisely, but I admit I like writing him getting in all the types of embarrassing situations. And I liked writing Thalia's personality. I want to make her personality as closer as Cross. I hope you like this chapter Kithren. ^^

Next chapter Thalia will tell to Joyd about his future throught his dreams, while Mana finally will find out about Lilith's illness.


	6. Chapter 6

The Duke and the Musician  
chapter 6

Joyd didn't know if he should laugh or not. In the café shop at Aquila, Joyd saw Thalia drinking a nice cup of coffee while Wisely looked all messed up. Joyd thought they had a wild night.

"Did you have a nice night?" Joyd asked smirking, only for Wisely to glare at him while Thalia grinned.

"Oh yeah, Will was such a great partner last night. And I had no idea he had a big…"

"He doesn't need to know any details!" Wisely interrupted Thalia, the Noah of Wisdom blushing in embarrassment.

Then, Joyd cleaned his throat, getting their attention and changing the subject.

"Aham…. Anyway Miss Thalia, you said you knew about my dreams?"

Thalia blinked confused before she snapped her fingers, exclaiming she remembered something like this as she asked Joyd what his dreams were like. Joyd tells her that in her dreams he was in the forest and in the forest was a wolf wanting him to follow it down a trail. That the end of the trail he saw a woman with white hair and wearing a white dress, a hawk was perched on her shoulder. Joyd also tells them he couldn't see the woman's face because it was covered by shadow.

"And the woman in my dreams said 'I'll be waiting for you, Tyki'."

Now Thalia was quiet as she was trying to figure out the meaning of the dream. She asked Joyd that in any of his pasted lives, before Lucas, was he called Tyki? Joyd answered that he never had the name Tyki in any of his past lives.

"That means the woman in your dream is someone you still have to meet." The red haired gypsy said to the Noah of Pleasure.

"Hum?" Now Joyd was confused. "What do you mean?"

"If Tyki is not a name from your past, then that means it's a name from your future. That's all I can say to you."Then Thalia left some money on the table as she got up, preparing herself to leave. But before she leaves, she says something to the two Noah. "Ah, and one more thing. The time when your Earl will have to make the biggest decision of his life is coming soon."

"What?" Wisely and Joyd looked confused at the gypsy.

"And this decision will change the history of the Noah forever." with this Thalia left the room.

Wisely and Joyd tried to follow her but they could not find Thalia in the other room. It was like she had vanished into thin air. Both the Noah were now worried, what had she meant by that their Earl was going to be making a decision which will change their family's history forever?

XXX

Meanwhile at the circus, Mana had just entered his tent that he shared with his sister. He was a little tired since he had been practicing new tricks with his colleges for the tomorrow show. He just wanted to rest for a few moments before heading back out.

"Man I am tired. Lilith, I think I will rest for a little bit, can you wake me up in 30 minutes?" Mana asked as he entered in the tent.

But he didn't get any answer, Mana realizing that this was weird. The ringmaster had told him that Lilith was feeling tired and had gone to their tent to rest a little. Could he have misheard the ringmaster? Then, he saw a figure lying on the ground, the figure was his sister Lilith, with blood coming out from her month.

"Lilith!"

XXX

Outside of the circus, Millennium Earl in his human form was humming very happily. He was holding a bouquet of daises. This time he planned to ask Lilith to go to the opera house with him. He was pretty sure Lilith liked operas since she seemed to enjoy the theater play at Aquila two nights ago.

"Good afternoon." a man around his 40's greeted him. It was the ringmaster of the circus. "May I help you?"

"Oh yeah, I came to visit Lilith. Is she around here?"

The ringmaster looked at him confuse. This man wanted to see Lilith the she-devil? Then, he remembered that Mana and the other clowns had mentioned a weird guy being interested in the famous she-devil, and Lilith had said she now had this weirdo stalker. Could it be this man?

"You're not her weirdo stalker are you? " The ringmaster asked.

"Weirdo stalker?" Earl sweetdropped. He was called by many names by his enemies, but being called a weirdo stalker was a new one for him. Well, in a way it was true because he was stalking Lilith since the moment that he first met her.

"What's your intention towards Lilith?" The ringmaster asked, folding his arms. Lilith may have a very difficult temperament but he still didn't like someone outside messing with his crew.

"Well, you see I…" Started Earl but he was interrupted by Mana's voice.

"RINGMASTER!"

Earl's eyes widen in horror when he saw Mana running towards them, with Lilith in his arms; covered in her own blood. The ringmaster looked at Lilith's limped form in horror as Mana shouted that they needed to take Lilith to a hospital. Earl was quick to offer his coach to take them to the hospital.

XXX

Mana ran his fingers through his messed up hair. He was sitting in the hospital hallway outside the room his sister was checked into. Earl walked up to him and passed him a cup of water.

"Thanks." Mana said, taking the cup. "I can't thank you enough for taking us here as fast as you did."

"I like your sister, you know." Earl said as he sat down beside Mana. "Any word from the doctors?"

Mana shook his head. He was worried about his sister's well being. He knew his sister wasn't feeling well lately but he never imagined she was that sick. He just hoped she didn't have anything serious. Then the door opened and the doctor came out from Lilith's room. Millennium Earl and Mana didn't like the grim look on the doctor's face.

XXX

Millenniun Earl was in his room on the arc, with a grim look on his face. He never thought that the girl he liked had tuberculosis. To make things worse, Lilith refused to stay in the hospital because she wanted to die at the circus in the company of her circus family, the woman preferring that over being alone in a cold hospital room. Mana was in despair because it was the same illness that had killed their mother before they joined to the circus troop, and now Lilith could die at any moment from the same illness. The duke didn't know what to do. He was going to lose someone that had just filled what he had been missing in his heart.

"Duke?"

Millennium Earl turned around and saw Joyd in the door way. Joyd had found out from Road that Lilith was very sick and there's nothing much they could do about it.

"I heard about Lilith's illness from Road." Joyd said to the Earl.

"There's nothing we can do about it?" Earl asked suddenly.

Joyd sighed. He knew how happy Earl was when he found someone that could fill that spaced on his heart that he didn't knew was even there until he had met Lilith, even if this girl had a she-devil personality. And now the girl he had fallen in love with is dying from an illness that had no cure.

"I know I may sound cold for saying this Earl-sama, but there's nothing you can do about it. Soon she will die from tuberculosis, an illness without a cure." Said Joyd to Millennium Earl. He hated sounding cold towards to the patriarch. "Tuberculosis is not like innocence poisoning where you can heal us using your blood."

Then, Earl's eyes widen in realization. How come he didn't think about this before? But he was not sure if it will work since he never used his blood on ordinary humans (since he really didn't care about them, except for his Noah family) but it was a worth shot. Its better risking this, than doing nothing after all. Millennium Earl got up from his rocking chair and rushed towards the door.

"Joyd, I will be out for a while. I will return before dinner." Earl said before leaving the room.

Joyd was now confused. What was Earl up to? For some strange reason, he remembered Thalia's words when she said that the time where Millennium Earl would be making a choice that would change the Noah family would come soon. He had a bad feeling about this.

XXX

Mana was sitting next to his sister's bed and dunked a towel into a bowl full of cool water, wringing it to get rid of the excess water and folding it before placing it on Lilith's forehead. Lilith was having difficulty breathing as her fever was still high. Mana feared for the worst. He doesn't want to lose his only living relative. Then Millennium Earl (in his human form) entered their tent.

"How's she doing?" he asked worried.

"Not good." Mana answered to the duke. "Her fever has worsened this morning. The doctor said I need to be prepared for the worst."

Millennium Earl gritted his teeth as he closed his hands into fists. After 7000 years, he finally found someone who filled the solitude in his heart. He would not lose his beloved now.

"Adam is that you?" Lilith asked as she opened her eyes. Her voice was horse.

"I will leave you both alone." Mana said, leaving the tent. He knew how much they liked each other, even if Lilith did not admit that she likes the noble.

Earl holds his maiden's feverish hand as he looked at her with soft eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I am at the doors of death."

"Don't say that." Earl said to her "You will live and get better. In a blink of eye, you will see yourself performing again."

Lilith couldn't help but smile at him.

"I have tuberculosis, Adam." she whispered. "My illness has no cure. I lost my other friends from the circus and my mother from the same illness. I already have accepted my fate. But I will die happy because you and Mana have given me good memories. I will die in peace."

Then, she put her hand over her mouth as she started to cough. She coughed a few times before she stopped. Uncovering her mouth, she saw there was blood on her hand. Earl only looked at her with sadness in his eyes. He will not lose her!

"As I said before Lilith, you will live." Said Earl taking from his sleeve a syringe, filled with a black liquid. Lilith looked at him confused as she saw the syringe. The duke only hoped it would work.

To be continued.

Finally we reached one of the biggest parts of the story.

Next chapter will be Lilith's transformation and Millennium Earl facing the wrath and thanking of a she-devil. I wanna thank Kithren for helping with the chapter ^^


End file.
